CAUGHT IN THE ACT By Thandi Mkhatshwa

CAUGHT IN THE ACT

By Thandi Mkhatshwa

Published on Sun, Sep 25 2011 by Thandi Mkhatshwa

South Africa--When it comes to stealing some guys clearly have no limit, but my friend Vusi never seizes to amaze me. While other guys in my community of Acornhoek like to steal stuff, like TV’s and radios and sell it for almost next to nothing, Vusi on the other is addicted to stealing cooked meat. You won’t believe what his mother had to resort into in order to keep him away from stealing but even that couldn’t stop him from stealing the meat over and again.

I’ve known Vusi for all my life. His mom and my grand mother are best friends. Although he was a little older than me while we were growing up we still played together. While playing with him and other kids at his place I used to hear Vusi’s mother complaining about pieces of meat going missing in the pot whenever she cooked. But what amazed me then was the fact that Vusi always denied doing so of course, even though I had seen him a couple of times eating it. But his little sister and I couldn’t rat him out because he could have beat us up.

You see, ever since he was a just a child, Vusi has always had the stickiest fingers when it came to meat. But I always thought it was just a phase, and that he would grow out of it sooner or later. I mean, I used to steal sugar at home but I eventually stopped. But as Vusi grew older so did his bad habit of stealing up to a point where his mother couldn’t take it anymore.

Every time she cooked the meat at her house she had to resort into extreme measures, like hiding the meat in the fridge and locked it but Vusi was somehow able to unlock the fridge with a spoon. Next she tried hiding the pot in her closet and locked her room. But again somehow, Vusi as always was able to pick the lock, sniff it out the meat and eat it all. She even tried to hide the pot under her pillows; still Vusi was able to find it.

Until one day Vusi’s father caught him in the act. It was just like any other ordinary day. Vusi’s mom had cooked meat and porridge. Fearing that Vusi might eat everyone’s’ share as well his mom tried to hide the pot of meat under her bed. She thought that this time Vusi wouldn’t be able to sniff the pot out, so she locked the house and came to visit my grandmother at my house. Vusi must have seen this chance as a great opportunity to search for his favorite meal in his mother’s room.

Soon after she left he quickly picked his mother’s lock and searched for his hidden treasure. He thought that he was completely alone in the house. Little did Vusi know that his father was on his way back from town and was almost in the house. Vusi searched and found his pot of meat under the bed and was busy eating it. His head was buried deep under the bed. Only his feet remained outside. He didn’t even hear his father walking in the room. His father was shocked to see him under the bed but somehow he had a feeling what Vusi was up to. As Vusi was busy eating the meat and chewing the bones, like he owned the place, his father grabbed him by his feet and pulled him out of the bed. And amazingly, Vusi did not let go of the pot. He was shocked to find his father standing over him.

Finally after denying all the time that it was him who was stealing the meat, Vusi was caught red handed. He was embarrassed as hell that he didn’t even know how to explain himself. His father was so disgusted with him that he didn’t even say anything to Vusi. He just left the room and Vusi on the floor. Vusi soon followed suite and went on to disappear for the whole day. I think he is so embarrassed to face his parents. And now every time I see him I just feel like bursting into a big laughter.